The Real Story: The Gap into Conflict: The Gap Cycle, Book 1

Author of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, one of the most acclaimed fantasy series of all time, master storyteller Stephen R. Donaldson returns with this exciting and long-awaited new series that takes us into a stunningly imagined future to tell a timeless story of adventure and the implacable conflict of good and evil within each of us.

The Mirror of Her Dreams: Volume I of Mordant's Need

The daughter of rich but neglectful parents, Terisa Morgan lives alone in a New York City apartment, a young woman who has grown to doubt her own existence. Surrounded by the flat reassurance of mirrors, she leads an unfulfilled life - until the night a strange man named Geraden comes crashing through one of her mirrors, on a quest to find a champion to save his kingdom of Mordant from a pervasive evil that threatens the land.

The Runes of the Earth: The Last Chronicles of Thomas Convenant

Since their publication more than two decades ago, the initial six books in The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series have sold more than six million copies and have been published in 10 countries around the world. Now, starting with The Runes of the Earth, Stephen R. Donaldson returns with a quartet of new Covenant novels that are certain to satisfy his millions of fans, and attract countless new followers.

The King's Justice: Two Novellas

In The King's Justice, a stranger dressed in black arrives in the village of Settle's Crossways, following the scent of a terrible crime. He even calls himself "Black", though almost certainly that is not his name. The people of the village discover that they have a surprising urge to cooperate with this stranger, though the desire of inhabitants of quiet villages to cooperate with strangers is not common in their land, or most lands.

We Are Legion (We Are Bob): Bobiverse, Book 1

Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it's a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street. Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state. He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets.

The Reality Dysfunction

The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton is the first in Night's Dawn, a sweeping galactic trilogy from the master of space opera. In AD 2600 the human race is finally realizing its full potential. Hundreds of colonized planets across the galaxy host a multitude of wildly diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has pushed evolution far beyond nature's boundaries, defeating disease and producing extraordinary space-born creatures.

The Red Sea: The Cycle of Galand, Book 1

When Dante Galand was just a boy, his father, Larsin, sailed away to make his fortune. And never returned. Since then, Dante has become a great sorcerer. A ruler. A destroyer of kings. And he's just learned that his father is living on a forbidden island at the edge of the known world. Where he's dying of a mysterious plague. In the company of his friend, the swordsman Blays, Dante travels to the island. There, his magic can do nothing for his father.

Starship Liberator: Galactic Liberation, Book 1

The Hundred Worlds have withstood invasion by the relentless Hok for decades. The human worlds are strong, but the Hok have the resources of a thousand planets behind them, and their fleets attack in endless waves. The long war has transformed the Hundred Worlds into heavily fortified star systems. Their economies are geared for military output, and they raise specialized soldiers to save our species. Assault Captain Derek Straker is one such man among many.

The Abyss Beyond Dreams

When images of a lost civilization are 'dreamed' by a self-proclaimed prophet of the age, Nigel Sheldon, inventor of wormhole technology and creator of the Commonwealth society, is asked to investigate. Especially as the dreams seem to be coming from the Void - a mysterious area of living space monitored and controlled because of its hugely destructive capabilities.

Renegade: Spiral Wars, Book 1

One thousand years after Earth was destroyed in an unprovoked attack, humanity has emerged victorious from a series of terrible wars to assure its place in the galaxy. But during celebrations on humanity’s new homeworld, the legendary Captain Pantillo of the battle carrier Phoenix is court-martialed then killed, and his deputy, Lieutenant Commander Erik Debogande, the heir to humanity’s most powerful industrial family, is framed for his murder.

Revenger

The galaxy has seen great empires rise and fall. Planets have shattered and been remade. Among the ruins of alien civilizations, building our own from the rubble, humanity still thrives. And there are vast fortunes to be made, if you know where to find them.... Captain Rackamore and his crew do. It's their business to find the tiny, enigmatic worlds that have been hidden away, booby-trapped, surrounded by layers of protection - and to crack them open for the ancient relics and barely remembered technologies inside.

Sufficiently Advanced Magic: Arcane Ascension, Book 1

Five years ago Corin Cadence's brother entered the Serpent Spire - a colossal tower with ever-shifting rooms, traps, and monsters. Those who survive the spire's trials return home with an attunement: a mark granting the bearer magical powers. According to legend, those few who reach the top of the tower will be granted a boon by the spire's goddess. He never returned. Now it's Corin's turn. He's headed to the top floor, on a mission to meet the goddess.

Hunters of Dune

At the end of Frank Herbert's final novel, Chapterhouse: Dune, a ship carrying a crew of refugees escapes into the uncharted galaxy, fleeing from a terrifying, mysterious Enemy. Hunters of Dune is the exotic odyssey of the crew as it is forced to elude the diabolical traps set by the ferocious, unknown Enemy.

Fallen Dragon

In the distant future, corporations have become sustainable communities with their own militaries, and corporate goals have essentially replaced political ideology. On a youthful, rebellious impulse, Lawrence joined the military of a corporation that he now recognizes to be ruthless and exploitative. His only hope for escape is to earn enough money to buy his place in a better corporation.

The Gods Themselves

Only a few know the terrifying truth - an outcast Earth scientist, a rebellious alien inhabitant of a dying planet, a lunar-born human intuitionist who senses the imminent annihilation of the Sun... They know the truth - but who will listen? They have foreseen the cost of abundant energy - but who will believe?These few beings, human and alien, hold the key to the Earth's survival.

Hyperion

On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all.

Dune

Here is the novel that will be forever considered a triumph of the imagination. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Maud'dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family and would bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.

Steel World: Undying Mercenaries, Book 1

In the 20th century Earth sent probes, transmissions, and welcoming messages to the stars. Unfortunately, someone noticed. The Galactics arrived with their battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined their vast Empire. Swearing allegiance to our distant alien overlords wasn't the only requirement for survival. We also had to have something of value to trade, something that neighboring planets would pay their hard-earned credits to buy. As most of the local worlds were too civilized to have a proper army, the only valuable service Earth could provide came in the form of soldiers....

Columbus Day: Expeditionary Force, Book 1

The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the Native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon came ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There went the good old days, when humans got killed only by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits. When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang starships jumping in to hammer the Ruhar, we thought we were saved.

Hell's Rejects: Chaos of the Covenant, Volume 1

The most powerful starships ever constructed are gone. Thousands are dead. A fleet is in ruins. The attackers are unknown. The orders are clear: Recover the ships. Bury the bastards who stole them. Lieutenant Abigail Cage never expected to find herself in Hell. As a Highly Specialized Operational Combatant, she was one of the most respected soldiers in the military. Now she's doing hard labor on the most miserable planet in the universe. Not for long.

Dune: The Butlerian Jihad

Frank Herbert's Dune is one of the grandest epics in the annals of imaginative literature. Now Herbert's son, Brian, working with Kevin J. Anderson and using Frank Herbert's own notes, reveals a pivotal epoch in the history of the Dune universe: the Butlerian Jihad, the war that was fought ten thousand years before the events of Dune - the war in which humans wrested their freedom from "thinking machines."

Paul of Dune

The Muad'Dib's jihad is in full swing. His warrior legions march from victory to victory. But beneath the joy of victory there are dangerous undercurrents. Paul, like nearly every great conqueror, has enemies - those who would betray him to steal the awesome power he commands. Paul himself begins to have doubts: Is the jihad getting out of his control? Has he created anarchy? Has he been betrayed by those he loves and trusts the most? And most of all, he wonders: Am I going mad?

The Lost Starship

Ten thousand years ago, a single alien super-ship survived a desperate battle. The vessel's dying crew set the AI on automatic to defend the smashed rubble of their planet. Legend has it the faithful ship continues to patrol the empty battlefield, obeying its last order throughout the lonely centuries.In the here and now, Earth needs a miracle. Out of the Beyond invade the New Men, stronger, faster and smarter than the old. Their superior warships and advanced technology destroy every fleet sent to stop them.

Dune: House Atreides: House Trilogy, Book 1

Capturing all the complexity and grand themes of the original, this prequel to the Dune series weaves a new tapestry of betrayal, passion, and destiny into a saga that expands the tale written by Frank Herbert more than 30 years ago.

Publisher's Summary

Hailed as his greatest work ever, Stephen Donaldson's best-selling Gap series is rapidly attaining the status of a classic. Now, one of the most exhilarating space epics ever told comes to a shattering climax in a thrilling tale of high adventure, powerful emotion, and labryrinthine intrigue.

As the conflict between humankind and the Amnion aliens heads for crisis, Morn Hyland, cyborg Angus Thermopyle, and the survivors on board the crippled starship Trumpet must return from deep space to Earth. Only they can prevent the titanic struggle between UMCP director Warden Dios and Holt Fasner, the corrupt head of the UMC, from precipitating all-out war with the Amnion - and leaving humanity to pay a terrible price.

As Dios in Earth's orbit and Morn in deep space both make far-reaching decisions, the Amnion act with swift fury, and suddenly Earth stands threatened with fiery destruction.

This series was Donaldson's best work, even better than the Covenant series. 5 stars is not enough to rate this excellent story. I would highly recommend not only this book but the entire series. The book was so good that I did an all-nighter because I COULD NOT STOP LISTENING.

Have you listened to any of Scott Brick’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Scott Brick is one of the best narrators on this site. I could listen to him read the dictionary. His performance and reading style go hand in hand with Donaldson's work, especially this series.

Any additional comments?

I read this series years ago and I'd like to thank Audible for bringing it to audio and doing such a great job.

Would you listen to This Day All Gods Must Die: The Gap into Ruin again? Why?

Maybe I'd listen again, but I'd need a lot of time in between. I like Donaldson, but he's dark. The guy is twisted and sadistic. Even the Covenant series shows his propensity for exposing tortured minds to the extreme. This series is even darker and more masochistic. He really puts people through the most awful things (in stark detail).<br/><br/>Sometimes it's just hard to listen to all the ugliness. But I do. I somehow get through the darkness so I can eventually find the redemption at the end. You start caring about these characters. Even some of the nasty ones. Donaldson's really good at that, making you care.

What does Scott Brick bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Scott Brick's narration makes this whole series bearable.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely not - not only is it too long, but I need time outs to come up for air.

Those are two of Stephen R. Donaldson's favorite words and there is no shortage of either in this final entry of the Gap Cycle. The fifth book of the series is the largest of the bunch, and despite some of the typical un-needed bloat found in any Donaldson book, it builds up to a worthy conclusion. Holt Fasner has put the Earth itself in jeopardy with his attempt to unlock Amnion secrets that will allow him to live forever and Warden Dios turns out to be just as culpable for the extreme actions he takes in an attempt to stop him. Both have abused their power in unforgivable ways and those who have been the recipients of that abuse, mainly Angus and Morn, finally arrive back at Earth just in time for a public reckoning.

For the entire series there has been a plethora of misery dumped upon the main characters due to the background struggle between Holt and Warden and yet those characters have found a way to remain more true to the human race than anyone else. Every character is deeply flawed and each must do some soul searching as the story builds to a tense conclusion where the actions of each and every individual will have dire consequences for everyone else. The tense situation is created by the Amnion who take some extreme actions of their own in an attempt to prevent the human race from spreading the formula for the anti-mutagen drug that would render their main weapon useless. It is hard to provide too many details without spoiling what happens but suffice it to say that the various story threads all converge and the myriad of secrets finally come out into the open in a fitting conclusion to an epic space drama.

Despite the dark nature of the entire series I did find it engaging and I am impressed in the manner in which the original short novel grew into an epic story arc. Donaldson found unique and creative ways for people to abuse each other with technology and much like he did with The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant he puts the reader in the awkward position of having to root for deeply flawed and evil characters to be successful in the name of the greater good. I like when an author makes me think about my own morals and choices and Donaldson does that very well. Scott Brick delivers yet another solid performance and helps to make this series a good listen.